1654 french coin??

fishteeth

I collect US coins and have little knowledge of foreign coins. I am not even sure what country this is from
This 1654 coin was given to me about 20 yrs ago while I was visitng a friend in Belgium. His house was from the 1600's and I believe he found it in the house.
I have always wondered what this coin design would look like in good shape. It appears to have a porcupine or hedgehog on the reverse.
Any info would be appreciated

coinpictures

A token or jeton maybe? No clue whatsoever, but a classic coin with a porcupine on it??? Talk about unique!

spoon

It is indeed a French "coin", or more properly referred to as a jeton (token). It is in the name of King Louis XIV, but there are tons of jetons from his time out there, and even tons dated 1654. I tried a quick skim of CGB's google results, but haven't found it yet. (CGB is a huge dealer of French numismatic material of all kinds.)

lordmarcovan

Here's Louis XIV again, on another French jeton, struck in brass. Here he's a bit over forty years older, circa 1695 to 1700 or so.




Despite issues with its condition, your "porcupine" piece is quite interesting and appealing.